Saviour
by Catlover friendly-but-xplosive
Summary: A young Jedi is hiding in the Undercity with the woman who saved her life- who is not a Jedi, but also hunted by the Empire- until the stormtroopers come knocking, and they start running. Two original female characters.


A/N: I've been working on this for some time now- Hana is a dear character I've had for many years and have often tried to write a story about- and am proud of what this. Please review and tell me what you think.

Also, yes, this is the same Hana of When Two Paths Cross and Whispers on the Wind, but they were early stories I'm not so pleased with and keep up only for continutity's sake.

**Saviour**

Hoki Mannings sigh in relief as she sat down, taking the weight off her left leg. It had plagued her ever since her escape from the Temple, when a clone got a shot in behind her knee. She had only escaped because she had been unexpectedly helped. The wound had healed- but the nerve wasn't the same and often sent spasms of agony through her if she moved it too quickly.

The young Healer- fifteen next month, though it hardly mattered anymore- closed her eyes with a ragged breath. The Force greeted her like an old friend, enveloping her in its warmth. She was relaxing slowly but surely when she heard soft footsteps.

It was Hana, grim faced and unsmiling as always. Though a strong, well trained force user, she had never being a Jedi in the formal sense of the word. A master who had left the Order had trained her, having found her at sixteen when she had just lost her parents, and she had a remarkable aptitude for physically manipulating objects, as Hoki had found out shortly after meeting her when she instinctively slammed a door shut in her face after Hoki thoughtlessly blurted that she suspected she was a Jedi- from across the room. But the fact that she was not actually a Jedi had not spared her from the Empire's wrath.

Hana was also the one who had killed the troopers attacking Hoki as she fled the Temple and dragged her off the streets to safety. Hoki still wasn't sure why and whenever she'd asked she'd received no reply. She had the distinct impression Hana didn't know either.

"Don't get too comfortable," Hana told the younger woman. Hoki examined her closely. Her face had prematurely lined and her blonde hair was streaked with grey, and though she was only in her thirties, she appeared much older. Her mouth was creased in a deeper than usual frown and her aura was dark.

"Is something wrong?" she asked.

"We're alive," Hana replied, sounding bitter. Hoki translated this to mean that the stormtroopers were knocking again. Hana glared at the Jedi reclining on the bed.

"Put that thing away," she snapped.

'That thing' was the lightsabre Hoki still carried. This was currently hanging openly at her hip. Hurriedly the teenager stuffed it under her tunic and the woman rolled her eyes.

"Why don't you recycle it? Or, better yet, sell it. The loonies who are buying them on the black market are willing to pay a lot right now. And we could use the credits. You're expensive," she muttered spitefully. "I should just leave you to die, Jedi."

Hoki knew she wouldn't, though she mentioned it daily. Hana was too honourable to leave her until she was sure that she could survive (though she'd never admit it- honour and survival were mutually exclusive according to her), and she wouldn't throw her worst enemy to the tender mercies of the Empire.

"No you won't," Hoki said confidently. Hana snorted.

"You're so blasted trusting, that's your problem," she told her bluntly. "It'll get you killed one day. It almost did already," she added pointedly.

"I was brought up that way," Hoki protested.

"It nearly killed you!" Hana exclaimed in exasperation. They'd had this argument often. "You got off easy." Hana jerked her chin at her leg, stretched across the single sleeping couch in the small room. Hoki felt guilty for taking her sleeping couch, but Hana had insisted she was fine on the floor. She claimed her leg needed to heal, though Hoki suspected that it was more than that. Hana disliked her and didn't pretend otherwise, but she had a good heart. She tried to keep it hidden but it was obvious.

The door opened with a bang. Knocking was out-dated apparently when it came down to matters of Empirical security. Hoki jumped but Hana's only reaction was to glare at the two stormtroopers.

"Do you mind? We have to pay for this if it gets damaged," she snapped in true irritation, completely reflexively. Hoki grimaced as the guns snapped up and put an urgent hand on Hana's arm.

"Silence!" one ordered and Hana shut up. She was reckless at times but not stupid, and a rogue Force user harbouring a true Jedi couldn't afford to draw attention.

"There has being trouble in your district," his partner intoned.

"Welcome to the undercity," Hana breathed, barely audibly.

"What was that?" the twitchy trooper shrieked.

"Nothing," she said, dropping her gaze to the floor so as not to provoke the troopers. The other trooper, who seemed to be calmer, stepped forward and addressed his statement to Hana.

"There are reports of a Jedi around here." Hoki stiffened, but Hana shrugged.

"Reports of 'em everywhere," she said, trying to divert his attention from Hoki. "Lots of people want to be heroes." Ruefully the trooper chuckled.

"True," he agreed. "Your friend seems nervous."

So he wasn't dull then.

"Our door was just kicked in by a pair of stormtroopers asking about Jedi. Why wouldn't she be?" His gaze swivelled to Hoki. Blast!

"Got anything to hide, girl?" he asked sharply. Hana stood by, stiffening and giving Hoki clear warning with her eyes. _Don't you dare screw this up._

Hoki just shook her head, not trusting her voice, and Hana rescued her. Hoki knew that a woman who would kill stormtroopers to save a total stranger's life wouldn't let her face them alone.

"She's nervous around stormtroopers," Hana said, drawing his attention back to her. "Any sensible person these days is. Especially when they start asking questions about Jedi."

He looked back at Hoki, and she averted her gaze from his. He was suspicious, she could see it. He gestured to his partner.

"We're going," he said abruptly, and they walked out. Hana let out a shaky breath.

"Frak," she said.

XX

They left that night, not bothering to pay rent. They'd probably be dead soon anyway. Hana slipped from one throng of people to another with practised ease, telling Hoki as she did so what she was doing.

"Look like you have a purpose and they won't question you. If you seem to be attached to a crowd they will think you are. Look nervous and they'll think you're hiding. Look like you feel you have every right to be here."

The commentary continued in barely audible tones and got mixed up in Hoki's head. If you attached yourself to a crowd they'll think you're hiding? Or was it they wouldn't think you were hiding? She shook her head and simply followed Hana. She knew better what she was doing. Hana tripped suddenly.

"Hana?" Hoki asked. The woman shot her a look and she shut up. Then she went back to scanning the crowd, moving only her eyes as she rose again.

"This way," she whispered out of the corner of her mouth and casually headed towards a building which was very noisy. Hoki realised it was a cantina. She still had no idea what Hana was up to, but followed her nonetheless. She'd kept her safe so far.

Without hesitation, she headed for the door and slipped inside. Hoki hesitated before following. She had been in cantinas before, but not recently, and certainly not in Coruscant's undercity. A tanned hand grabbed her sleeve and yanked her through.

Hana was saying something, she could see her lips moving, but she couldn't hear her. The music was pounding in her ears and a noxious smell had her gagging. Hana didn't seem to notice it, and dragged on her sleeve again.

Hoki had no intention of losing her. She stuck like a burr to her side through the coloured smoke, writhing mass of beings and terrible smells. If she lost her she'd never find her again. Her hand slipped into Hana's, partly for comfort, partly to keep hold on her. The other seemed to sense her need and squeezed it slightly as she led her through to a back door. She sighed in relief as soon as it was shut behind them.

"Sorry," she whispered.

Hana's eyes were softer than normal. "It's a bad place."

That was as close to an apology as she would ever get from her.

XX

"Did we lose them?" Hoki asked anxiously. Hana didn't reply, on high alert, all pretence of casualness dropped. Anger and disgust was clear in her eyes as she examined the dead end before them and she cursed.

"Stay behind me," she hissed, dropping into a crouch, blaster in hand. Hoki clumsily copied her. She could protect herself on a battlefield, in a fair fight, or in a wide open space- but the cramped streets were Hana's area of expertise, and she knew it.

Sneaking wasn't her strong suit either. As a Jedi, she'd never had to sneak anywhere. By the time she'd gotten out of the Temple, the war involved a lot of sabre waving and dismembering, rather than sneaking. She had to admit to herself that Hana was right- she was lucky to have survived so long. She wouldn't have made it if the older woman hadn't helped her. And for two months, she'd resented her pushing it in her face.

She shook her head slightly to clear it. If she wanted to survive another two minutes, let alone months, she had to be clear headed. She drew on the Force to calm her.

"Stop that," Hana hissed. "If they have an Inquisitor…"

Hoki felt a chill pass up her spine. Inquisitors were a newly formed group, formed specifically to hunt Jedi. Their agents were Force sensitive and trained by the Emperor himself, it was said. There weren't many of them, but they had proved deadly to survivors in hiding.

Booted footsteps sounded near them. Hana pushed Hoki back against the wall.

"Hoki," she said, softly, turning to face her. Hana rarely called her by name, so Hoki could tell this was serious. Her eyes were warm.

"They want a Jedi." It was a statement, and the Jedi shivered. Surely she wouldn't…

"And we'll give them one." Her resolve had firmed, and excitement sparkled in her eyes. She held out her hand.

"Hoki…" she paused, and Hoki was puzzled for a moment. "Give me your lightsabre." Then it clicked.

"No!" she exclaimed. "Hana, you can't!" The owners of the booted footsteps heard her and started running. Hana swore out loud.

"I can use the blasted thing as well as you can," she hissed. "Give it to me. Run."

Quite apart from the fact there was nowhere to run in a dead end, Hoki thought this was a very bad plan indeed. Hana seemed to have spotted that flaw too. She considered it a moment.

"Take the opportunity when you can to run," she revised. "I'll draw them off. Get into a crowd. Stay there. Make your way to the spaceport. Get onto a ship any way you can. Stow away if you have to." Hoki hesitated. She knew there was no way out of this. She also knew that if she were to stay, Hana would protect her with her life if she had to.

Honour and survival are mutually exclusive concepts, after all.

"Alright," she reluctantly agreed. She opened her mouth to speak again.

"I'll catch up," Hana cut across her, and she closed her mouth. "Now give me your blasted lightsabre and get behind that pile of rubble."

With a tiny smile, aware that this might be the last time she'd ever see Hana, Hoki handed it over. Before she was out of sight though, Hana called her name.

"Here." She tossed her vibroblade at her, and the girl caught it, a little confused. The woman smiled.

"It's not going to do a Jedi much good, is it?" she said lightly. Then turned serious. "Hoki, if I don't make it, go without me. Survive."

"Hana…" she protested.

"I mean it." Hana raised her voice slightly so Hoki knew she was serious. She nodded. Hana didn't yell. She didn't need to.

"Okay."

"Promise me," Hana insisted. "Promise me, Hoki."

"I promise." Hana relaxed slightly and turned back to the entrance, just as the first booted foot showed around the corner, and shoved Hoki down behind the rubble and she saw no more.

XX

Sheltering behind her pile of rubble, all Hoki could hear was blaster fire and the dreadful song of her lightsabre. Stormtroopers were shouting in alarm, but their voices were fading fast, and she knew that Hana was gracefully cutting them down. Finally it was silent.

"Go!" Hana said. Without hesitation Hoki scrambled out. The scene that greeted her didn't shock her. It was no worse than what she had seen during the war

"Meet you at the spaceport," Hoki said, desperately. Hana nodded once, urgently, as booted feet approached.

"Go!"

Hoki scrambled out, rolling behind a collapsed wall out of combat instinct, honed to a fine point during the Clone Wars, as the stormtroopers thundered past. Then she continued on. She was hopeless at street survival, though Hana had tried to teach her. But on a battlefield- she had a lot of practise surviving there. And this was a battlefield, and a familiar one at that. Destroyed cities were a common hazard during the Clone Wars.

Hana, she knew, would be able to survive a full blown war, but she'd admitted herself she wouldn't get out of it as well as Hoki, who had fought in a vicious war for three years.

It had being the first confession of Hoki's superiority she had made, and it had stunned Hoki speechless. Afterwards, Hana had been too embarrassed to speak to her and had never said it again, but Hoki had held it close to her heart. Hana's opinion meant a lot to her.

_"Ya know, Jedi… you're not so bad. I mean, you're prattish and annoying, and your blasted peaceful ways might just get you and me both killed- but you're not so bad."_

Hana's words echoed in her head, and she treasured the memory of her. She'd been drunk that night- which was why she'd openly shown her affection. She'd never seen it again. It was likely that by now a memory was all that was left of Hana. There had been so many troopers…

And memory would be all that would remain of her too, if she didn't manage to get onto a ship and out of here.

Not that anyone would be left to remember her.

She shook her head slightly and kept moving. Her knee hurt, but not unbearably. She slowed her pace as she reached the crowds. Stormtroopers didn't keep these people off the streets for long, and Hana had said something about blending in with crowds to hide in plain sight.

XX

Hana had left the dead end long after she was sure Hoki was gone. She'd have hated to waste the last two months of keeping the blasted Jedi alive with an impatient move.

She still wasn't sure why she'd saved her in the first place. She'd _intended_ to get off the streets and lie low as soon as she heard that the Empire was hunting Jedi, as any sensible citizen would, particularly a Force trained one. Instead she found herself shooting three stormtroopers to rescue a young fugitive.

It was foolishness, she told herself, but she was glad she had. All she could say was that she had seen herself lying in the path of the stormtroopers rather than Hoki (an entirely possible fate) and reacted. By the time she'd come back to her senses it was too late. She'd firmly established her side.

Her mentor would have been proud if he wasn't dead, she thought bitterly. She wasn't sure about this traitor business, but she did know that if it was true he wouldn't have had anything to do with it. And this girl was far too young to be involved. She snorted slightly.

"Getting sentimental in your old age, Solo," she told herself. She'd been capable of far more than Hoki had when she was younger than her- but that wasn't because Hoki was incompetent. She was far from incompetent. Too trusting by half and far too naive for her own good, but far from incompetent. Hana herself been brought up by two explorers, and had visited some rather nasty places in her childhood, been forced to learn how the universe worked young. Hoki had been brought up in the Temple, a haven of safety as far as she had heard and the young Jedi had said.

But fighting in war the last three years really ought to have taught her something. She snorted slightly and shook her head. The girl wasn't her problem anymore. She was far away by now- hopefully. If she hadn't decided to stick around and be her usual bull-headedly stupid self.

She'd done everything she could for her now. Now she had her own survival to attend to.

XX

It was a risk, but Hoki only knew one way to the spaceport, and was forced to take the most direct route. She wished she knew the side alleys and shortcuts that Hana seemed to- but Hana had spent most of her life learning them. Though Hoki had grown up on Coruscant, it was in the Temple that she had spent her time, not on the harsh streets of the undercity.

The presence of stormtroopers was odd. They usually gave the place a wide berth. But Jedi tended to raise the stakes. They always had, whatever side of justice they were on. Her hand closed around the hilt of Hana's vibroblade and she wished it was her lightsabre, but she could probably adjust to the balance of this new weapon without many problems. It couldn't be that different.

Besides which, it was Hana's.

She shook herself out of her reverie. It wouldn't do to get caught with her metaphorical pants down and waste her friend's sacrifice. Moving on, she joined a group of youth leisurely strolling along. One gave her a dirty look.

"Who are you?" she asked in distaste, looking down her nose at Hoki. Her friends turned their attention to her too, one of them muttering about the state of her clothes. Yes, she was dirty and they were too small- but one did not survive in the undercity and maintain the glossy hair these kids were sporting. They'd probably never roughed a day in their lives. She was suddenly, intensely proud of her appearance. She looked like a survivor. She sent them a withering look back.

"Sorry for offending your delicate sensibilities," she said, her contempt clear in her voice. Striding away, her head high, a stray thought niggled at her- _Hana would be proud._ She smiled, ignoring the outraged comments she left behind.

XX

Hana had no intentions of going to the spaceport. She'd already sacrificed enough for this Jedi- might as well go the whole hog. An image of her master slipped into her mind. He was smiling at her, a hand resting on her shoulder. She could almost feel it now. She shook it away. No time to get sentimental.

She could hear only the rustling of rats and the cawing of hawkbats overhead. She put a hand to her hip, touched the lightsabre, and realised she'd have to get rid of it. It was suicidal to carry one around, wasn't that what she'd been telling Hoki these past months? Suddenly she didn't want to.

Snorting at herself, she headed deeper into the undercity. She knew where to find a good fence- he could find a place to sell the lightsabre without arousing suspicion on her and get her a new weapon. She still had her blaster, but she'd always preferred close combat fighting. Besides which, the balance on this was all wrong- there was no weight in the blade to counter her swing. She was going to take her hand off at some stage if she kept using it. She reached a steep decline and stopped on the level ground.

If she went down before signalling, she'd be shot before she slid halfway down the hill.

"Firric," she called. "Got a present for ya." She waited a moment, then the barrel of a blaster rose slowly in the air. Stepping onto the slope, she skied down it, landing mostly steadily on two feet. The Squib holding the blaster emerged from behind a piece of rubble. He crossed to the door, pushed a code into a disguised pad beside it, and it slid open. They entered together.

"Lightsabre," she said, showing him once they were inside. His eyes widened as he took it. She watched him carefully handle the slim hilt.

"You've been holding out on me," he accused. She shook her head.

"Nah, just got it," she said. "What can you give me for it?" He frowned in consideration, sharp little teeth showing.

"I'll see what I can do," he said. "Stay close, Solo- I'll get back to you."

"You better not swindle me," she warned him as she watched him tuck it into his pocket. He grinned at her, unapologetic.

"Me? Never. You'll be at Dargin's?" She considered it; it was her usual hideout. But if the stormtroopers came sniffing around, she didn't want to be findable. True, only those who had reason to hide knew where she hid, and none were too keen on the stormtroopers, but she didn't want to take the risk.

"No," she said. "Send a message by Dargin for me, I'll get it. Meanwhile, do you have a vibroblade?"

"In return for this? Frak, yes," Firric said. He went into a room, emerged a moment later with a decent blade. "This do?" She weighed it in her hand and took a few practise swipes.

"It'll do," she said. "Thanks."

"Message by Dargin," he confirmed.

Nodding in acknowledgement, she left by a back door and vanished into the permanent night.

XX

She wasn't sure how she did it, but Hoki managed to bluff her way onto a ship leaving Coruscant that day. She sat in her cabin as they took off and watched the planet below her, and Hana, disappear, and wondered what the future held.

XX

Hana, meanwhile, was barely recognisable. Her hair was shaved off, making her face seem exponentially bigger, as she sat in a barely lit corner at ground level, watching the ships take off with strange sorrow in her eyes. Then, she turned and headed back into the undercity, leaving the light of day behind.


End file.
